The present invention describes a telescopic steering column for motor vehicles with an upper steering shaft, which is guided in a steering column jacket and at the end of which the steering wheel is mounted, with a lower steering shaft engaging the steering gear, and with a telescopic intermediate steering shaft, which connects the upper and lower steering shafts to one another via universal joints. In any position of the steering wheel, the individual parts of the steering shaft enclose with one another a three-dimensional bending angle that changes during the telescoping process. Unequal bending angles are known to lead to a nonuniformity between the rotary movement introduced at the steering wheel and the rotary movement that can be determined at the same moment on the steering gear. It is cumulatively composed of the partial nonuniformities in each joint of the steering shafting. If all parts of the steering shaft are in one plane, nononuniformity occurs at equal bending angles.
However, nonuniformities of the rotary movement must always be expected because of unequal bending angles and their arrangement in space. To compensate them, the forks of the universal joints are mounted offset in relation to one another on the intermediate steering shaft. This design ensures optimized uniformity of the rotary movement at least for one position of the steering column. If the steering column is axially displaced from this position, this no longer corresponds to the optimal position. Nonuniformities will again occur in the rotary movement, because the bending angles of the parts of the steering shaft also change with the new adjustment. The steering shaft is also forcibly rotated during the axial adjustment of the steering column, so that it no longer remains in the position for which it was adjusted during straight travel. However, this so-called "neutral position" is desirable for each position of the steering column.